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A student makes her way down a hallway to go home for the day at Franklin Elementary School on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Special education advocates recommend families start requesting special education evaluations from their school districts in October to start the process early.<\/p>\n
Josie Norris\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Parents of\u00a0students with disabilities who haven\u2019t gotten an individualized education program, or IEP<\/a> should get the process started in October, advocates say.<\/p>\n \u201cThe experts say (with) early intervention, you’ll be able to help your child more,\u201d said Inga Cotton, a\u00a0San Antonio-area school choice advocate. \u201cI wish I had done it even sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Parents who start asking about their child’s IEP now will have more options to support their student’s specialized learning needs under the state’s new private school voucher program<\/a>.<\/p>\n Texas launched the\u00a0new voucher program this school year, setting aside $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to cover private\u00a0education costs, including private school tuition, uniforms and tutoring.<\/a> Most students can receive up to $10,500 annually, but students with documented disabilities can get closer to $30,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here’s how families can get evaluated for special education services and an IEP.<\/p>\n Starting the process<\/p>\n Families should start by\u00a0asking their neighborhood public schools\u00a0about IEPs \u2014 even if they don\u2019t plan to\u00a0send their students there.\u00a0Federal disability law requires public schools<\/a>\u00a0to find and evaluate\u00a0any student with a disability who lives within their attendance boundaries.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n To begin, families can submit a written request asking their district to evaluate their child for a learning disability. The district\u00a0has 15 school days to respond and, if it determines an assessment is necessary, 45 school days to complete the evaluation.<\/p>\n After an evaluation, the district has 30 school days to schedule an Admission, Review and Dismissal or ARD meeting, where a student\u2019s specialized learning plan is created. Plans can include accommodations for students like breaks during testing or extra cues and prompts from a teacher.<\/p>\n The district must file\u00a0the plan with the Texas Education Agency, and families can keep it on hand for any school they choose.<\/p>\n Families can ask for an evaluation and tailored learning plan at any point in the calendar year. But Cotton said October is the latest families who want to apply to a different school next year or use vouchers should wait because district evaluation deadlines\u00a0could lengthen the process beyond when voucher applications open.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to set them up for success,\u201d she said. \u201cSo if they go to their neighborhood public school and ask for the evaluation, they’re not locked in to either staying with that neighborhood public school, doing a charter school or a private school.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, families could apply for vouchers from early February<\/a> to the end of March, a deadline that was<\/a> extended nearly two weeks because of a lawsuit<\/a>. The comptroller\u2019s office, which oversees the program, has not released this year\u2019s application schedule.<\/p>\n If it mirrors last year\u2019s timeline, families starting the IEP process in October may not get their specialized learning plan until close to the voucher application window opens. Having an IEP that lays out a student’s special education needs could factor into how much money a student receives in a voucher award.\u00a0<\/p>\n Advocates’ advice<\/p>\n<\/p>\n